I recently attended a lecture by Daniel Mall, Founder/Design Director of SuperFriendly. He shared several great thoughts on creativity, leadership and teamwork to help design beyond the comps. Below are some noteworthy ideas that can benefit any creative team.

Clients are not an extension of your team. Clients are your team.It is easy to get consumed by your big, brilliant creative idea. However, if your vision, creative as it may be, is off the client’s expectations, you are not successfully accomplishing your goal. Designers must remember to listen to clients and treat them as a part of the creative team, both entities working to successfully achieve a common goal.

Show passion. Feed into the company culture.Did you put 100 percent into not only your design, but also into the entire design process? A major factor in a project’s success is how you communicate with your team and the client. If a web design concept isn’t making sense, try a different approach. Making short QuickTime movies to explain how you want animations or navigation interface to work is a great way to share your ideas. This type of extra effort may mean that you won’t be skipping out the door at 4:30 every day, but it does show dedication. As a leader, you want your team to know you put in your best effort to make a project successful. Stepping up to the plate in these situations also demonstrates a hard-working company culture – without speaking a word – to which others will aspire.

Create empathy. Become a client.Many designers spend their entire careers without ever being a client themselves. But if we do not experience the client’s side, how can we really relate to our own clients? To understand what it is like to be the client, hire someone to design a personal project for you. Going through the design process as a client will give you insight on how to better relate to your clients, this is the closest you can get to being in their head.

Big sites need smarter work. Not more work.On big web projects, it is essential to analyze and organize all the information you are dealing with prior to starting the design process. If you are working on a complicated site with numerous pages, getting out from behind the computer and organizing the information in some type of physical form often helps. Try using sticky notes or paper cutouts with copy to arrange the page sequence and create paper prototypes. Make sure the site structure is carefully thought through and approved by the client before starting designs, or you will likely end up doing this work twice.

If you are not positive, then your whole team is negative. Positivity is contagious.People fail to realize how easily they influence other people around them. If you think a client’s design idea is crazy, even if unspoken, your team members can easily pick up on your feelings toward a project. A negative outlook on an idea or concept can often carry over into your work, which will ultimately be seen by the client. If your client asks you to “explore the use of rainbows,” go for it. Believe in their vision and come up with a wildly creative way to meet it. Lead by example. Take a positive outlook, even if it is forced.

Designers give form to otherwise shapeless ideas. This ability to bring ideas to life extends beyond design programs and the printed page. It is really about the whole process – effective communication with the client and team and doing smarter, not more work. When starting your next project, remember to design beyond the comps.

By, Stephanie Silvera | @Steph_Silvera

Original Article: http://wheelhousetk.com/2012/07/design-beyond-the-comps/

As a designer I often feel guilty about the amount of paper wasted during the design process due to inevitable revisions, rewrites and test prints. Our office makes sure to recycle paper and other products, but sustainability really relates to much more than that. It should encompass everything we consume and produce. Green design is a step toward more sustainable solutions. Of course, the ultimate goal of a green designer is to minimize his/her environmental footprint with their final product. Consider the following tips to make your projects more eco-friendly.

1. Greener Paper

Make sure you are using FSC Certified or Recycled paper. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is a certification organization that assesses those who manage the care of forests. They ensure those managing a forest are complying with federal law and international agreements relating to the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as enhancing the social and economic well being of workers, surrounding communities and the ecosystems surrounding the forest. The management of the forest must meet all FSC criteria before being certified by the organization.

Know what your paper is made of. Recycled paper is made from either 100% discarded (post-consumer) paper, a mix of post-consumer and pre-consumer paper, or a mix of post-consumer and either FSC Certified or just regular, non-certified paper. This is how recycled papers get their percentage rating.

What’s the best paper to use? I always go with using recycled paper because it means no new trees are cut down and also helps prevent waste from going into landfills. Also, try to select a paper that has a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste (PCW) content, is processed chlorine free (PCF) and is uncoated. If purchasing office copy paper, find one that is made with 100% PCW and is PCF.

2. Eco-Type

If you want to cut down on toner costs and help protect the environment, try using Eco-Font. The Eco-Font software prints fonts with tiny holes, undistinguishable to the human eye, which can cut back on toner use by up to 50%. The software requires no change to the fonts you are already using and works with your existing documents without any modifications.

3. Smart Design

Limit your color pallet and use ink and solid blocks of color in your design sparingly. The more ink on the page, the more solvents are needed on press, ultimately resulting in more waste. Stick to standard paper sizes and die-cutting options to reduce paper waste per printed sheet.

Proof your files on screen as much as possible and send pdf’s of presentations and documents instead of printed copies whenever possible.

When sourcing materials for packaging, make sure they are nontoxic, have recycled content, and that material extraction does not require destruction of ecosystems and is produced under fair and safe working conditions.

4. Green Your Printing

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. While still in the reviewing and finalizing process, make sure to print double sided to minimize paper use and print only when necessary. Also, recycle empty ink and toner cartridges.

In order to cut shipping costs and reduce your carbon footprint, try to select a printer within 100 miles of where the printed piece will be delivered.

Use soy ink. It maintains its lithographic quality throughout the entire print job thereby reducing the number of rejected copies due to inferior quality. Soy ink also provides a more intense color, allowing printers to use less ink on press. Created from a renewable resource, therefore eco-friendly, soy inks also differ from traditional inks in that they do not use petroleum.

Make your print piece FSC certified. If your printer is FSC certified, they can add a special FSC logo to your project, officially registering it as a sustainable piece printed on FSC paper in a certified facility.

To move toward truly sustainable design we must start making conscious decisions throughout the design process and in our working environments. Helping make our planet a little greener just takes a little thought and effort.

By, Stephanie Silvera

Original Article: http://wheelhousetk.com/2012/01/tips-for-more-sustainable-design/

During my last trip to New York, before I move to the city, I decided to spend a night in the Nolita district. The Bowery Suite is the perfect location for a fun stay in this hip area of downtown. This beautiful suite is very close to several great design shops, restaurants and bars. My day started with a massage and other relaxing at the Great Jones spa. The spa has an amazing water lounge with pools, saunas, steam rooms and also a 3-story waterfall. After that, it was time to check out some design stores in the neighborhood. First I went to Future Perfect which has really unique contemporary furniture. I am deeply in love with the knotty bubbles chandelier. Its style is both rustic and modern….just a unique lighting piece. After I stepped into Environment, another modern furniture store just around the block that has beautiful design pieces made with sustainable unfinished wood. Moreover, if you need some creative inspiration you must check out Partners & Spade. This shop opens only on weekends and features a hodgepodge of found objects, sculpture, framed artwork and design books. If you are short of gift ideas, this is the right place for you!

After a whole day walking around the city finally it was time to have the perfect meal! I headed over to, a super cute Italian restaurant at the Bowery Hotel. This hot spot is always very crowded so we left our name on the wait list and we decided to go to Hecho, in Dumbo, for some authentic Mexican appetizers. We tried the Tostada de Aguachile and the Queso Fundido de Huitlacoche and they were both delicious. If you don’t want to go to Dumbo you could also wait and have a drink at the Lobby Bar in the Bowery Hotel. After a quick bite of mexican culture we went back to Gemma’s for our dinner. This is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the good cuisine with friends on the outdoor patio of the restaurant. The Fritto Misto is excellent and I definitely recommend to try it.

There are lots of nightlife spots in the Nolita district so going from one place to one another just takes a short walk, which is great especially if you are wearing high heels! So after dinner we went to Wise Men, a hip and cozy bar with well-crafted specialty cocktails. My favorite is the Classic French. The next stop was Bathtub and Gin. This swanky spot serves pre-prohibition era cocktails and it is hidden behind a door of the Stone Street Coffee Company. There is a real bathtub too! Our night ended at Kings Cross, an unmarked underground speakeasy. Just look for a big clock and a steep stairway on the exterior of the building to find this basement hideaway. This magic spot has a laid back vibe and is ideal to grab a drink any day of the week. Finally it was time to head back to the Bowery Suite to get my beauty rest.

Stephanie is a designer living and working in NYC

Original article: www.mysuites.net/blog/the-suite-life-stephanie-silvera-in-the-bowery-suite/

It is impossible to ignore the influence of social media in today’s culture, but what exactly does this mean for business and how does it impact a company’s brand? Many companies question the value of social media if not directly linked to an increase in sales. However, building brand awareness, increasing social influence and retaining customers are some of the most valuable effects of a well-rounded social media plan.

Large corporations are increasing alliances with social media companies. Foursquare recently announced a nationwide partnership with American Express, offering users special discounts when they pay with AMEX. The startup recently reached 10 million members and also has more than 500,000 merchant accounts. Facebook just announced a partnership with Skype, allowing users to call their friends directly from their Facebook page. Google also has entered the social media arena introducing, Google+, creating a more personal web focused around a consumer’s personal favorites. These partnerships are hard evidence that social media is a worthwhile investment and not an overhyped trend.

Expanding into social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Foursquare gives customers the opportunity to engage with your brand. Social media is about having a dialogue and engaging with a community. If a brand knows its community and how to engage that community the exchange of great content and conversation will raise brand awareness and increase sales. The web has democratized social influence although the end goal is still the same– create buzz, engage an audience and boost sales. Through social media platforms your message can be amplified and reach a target audience. Forming relationships with the right influencers can help a brand’s message reach target customers via a trusted source.

In a recent research survey by Visibli, Audi had the most engaged fans on Facebook, more so than Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga. For each post, the study evaluated the number of likes per 100,000 fans. Audi received over 255 likes per 100,000 fans surpassing the most popular music artists. Audi also hired social media measurement company, Klout, to find some of the most influential opinion leaders online and asked them to tweet about Audi’s #Progressis trend campaign. The Audi followers tweeted more than 12,000 times about the hashtag, creating a chain of online Audi-related chatter. Will this fan and follower engagement result in an increase in the number of Audis sold? Not necessarily, but word-of-mouth validation is typically the most powerful and cost-effective marketing method available.

In addition to using social media as a sales tool, or to acquire new customers, brands can also use it as a customer retention tool. If someone likes or follows your business, it’s because they’re interested in hearing from you on some regular basis. Therefore, it is important that you have a routine schedule for your blogs, tweets, and postings. Keeping your fans and followers up-to-date on what’s new and happening with your business or industry keeps them engaged and your brand in mind.

Measuring the effects of social media is a difficult science. Ideally what we should be looking at are the effects of social influence: whether someone has actually taken an action they typically would not, changed their mind about an issue or brand, or has been influenced otherwise. There is real value in social media, so start using it to expand your brand awareness, social influence and your bottom line.

It’s not enough to simply write about data any longer; the world wants visuals. Infographics are a way to communicate complex stories, using graphics, icons and illustrations to create a single image that is easily understandable. Naturally, infographics have proven an excellent aid in expressing high volumes of information in a clear, visually appealing manner. These are useful to sales teams trying to explain business value and are a great way to explain different types of processes.

The adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” refers to the idea that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. Also, it characterizes one of the main goals of visualization, namely making it possible to quickly absorb large amounts of data.

Although graphics have been in use for hundreds of years, the escalating need to display complex concepts has lead to an increase in the popularity of infographics. Many businesses can benefit from a little graphic visualization. Below are a few ways T/K uses graphics to bring new life to messaging and presentations:

1. Social Media GuideTry using a infographic to visually streamline a social media plan. We created a Franchisee’s Guide to Social Media for Shane’s Rib Shack. From Facebook to Foursquare and beyond, this road map outlines each step a Franchisee should take in setting up, monitoring and engaging followers through their social media properties.

2. PR ProgramIf you are putting together a PR program or launching a product try using a graphic to map out a timeline of key components. T/K regularly uses this technique to help show clients each step of their PR Program. The single-page layout, using a combination of icons and key messages, clearly presents a comprehensive program.

3. Product CycleDoes your product have a unique life cycle or manufacturing process? One of our clients, WinCup did. So we created a infographic explaining the unique benefits of the VIO biodegradable foam cup, explaining the cup’s lifecycle from production to decomposition in a landfill. Customers could read a multi-page brochure to learn about the product, but instead this depicture captures the product benefits through icons and illustrations, so many of the product features can be easily understood through a common visual language that is accompanied by text.

Not only are there plenty of opportunities and reasons to add infographics and other visualizations into your content repertoire, but they may be easier to produce than you think. If you want to spruce up your documents, blog posts, and presentations, here are some free online tools that can help:

Visual.lyhttp://visual.ly/This is a new tool that allows you to create and share infographics. Its tools are fairly standard in terms of outputting sets of data, but Visual.ly makes it easier to create more robust infographics that are less scientific and more user friendly.

Wordlehttp://www.wordle.net/This is an effective tool for generating word clouds. If you’re creating a presentation for a client that is looking to rebrand, you can submit the company’s URL into Wordle so it spits out a colorful design of the most popular words used on their website. You can also create your own word clouds by just adding text or keywords that you want to use.

Many Eyeshttp://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/This IBM Research tool gives you two choices: an option to browse through existing sets of data, and a second that lets you use your own. The public database includes everything from population density across the U.S. to Internet browsers by popularity. The best part of this tool is that you have many different options insofar as the final product – from creating a world map to a network diagram.

Google Public Data Explorer http://www.google.com/publicdata/homeLike IBM, Google has made a public version of one of its research tools called Public Data Explorer. It lets you choose from existing data sets or input your own data. After uploading your information you have the option to make your dataset public for others to see and use. These charts also can be embedded on your website or blog.

Infographics can be a very valuable tool and are more impactful than traditional written text. They can be used throughout your brand identity by having a home on your website, sales sheets, presentations, press releases and more. Now is the time to get visual so start by adding an infographic to your marketing tool kit.